This summer I went on quite a few trips.  I went to Summit, which I will post about when I have more time. I was Camp Chef for our church's girls camp, and right after that, I went to see my sisters. One of the days, while I was staying at my sister's house, I was cutting lettuce for salad for dinner. The knife slipped, and I sliced my hand, between my thumb and index finger. Thankfully my brother in law, who is a nurse, was there and was able to tell right away that it needed stitches.  I headed to the ER, with my husband and brother in law, and got stitched up, BUT I was a little irritated!  I JUST got my new PiYo program that I brought with us on vacation and I wanted to keep going. 

I knew that Chalene Johnson created it because she was battling her own injuries, and I figured, if she could do her workout while injured, I'd sure try as well.  

And it worked!  I had to skip a few of the workouts and work mainly my legs, but I still was able to get my workouts in each day on vacation.  Hurt hand and all. 

Since we've been home, my husband has religiously been doing PiYo.  He is NOT a flexible guy, but he's starting to be more flexible and it's helping with his triathlon training. He loves it. 

Mommy Sacrifices

I'm a mom. I have 4 kids.  That means I went thru 4 pregnancies, gained 40-50 lbs with EACH pregnancy (except my last, I only gained 30 - he was born 9 weeks early).  I never worked out (well, at least consistently) before I became a mom. I rollerbladed now and then, NEVER ran, I did ballroom dance in High School, that's it. I was a reader. I'd MUCH rather be reading a book than exercising, besides, you get all sweaty!
Well, after I had my first baby, I realized it was going to take some serious work to get back into shape. I worked out, lost the weight, got pregnant again...  This happened multiple times. I felt bad when I was working out at night because it took time away from "family time." I usually put myself on the back burner.
Then I had my last baby. I made a goal to workout the entire pregnancy. I was TRYING to take care of myself. Then he came 9 weeks early. And I got put on the back burner again. We spent 6 weeks in the NICU, and even after he came home, I worked out a little and even ran a 5 K when he was 5 months old, but time just kept seeming to get shorter and shorter. I did make a goal to run a marathon, so when my son was 2 I did run a marathon, and then I got sick. I found out I had an autoimmune disease and extreme fatigue was one of the symptoms. Exercise helped, but I was SO tired all the time. Then my medications kicked in and I started feeling better, and I would try to workout a few times a week...  notice, I said try. If it didn't happen, it just didn't happen. It wasn't my priority. And I gained 15 lbs. I know that's not a LOT, but it was the largest I'd ever been besides being pregnant. And I made a decision.  I was going to start putting myself first. I HAD to. I didn't feel good about myself, and I hated that. I've learned that it's VITAL to being a good wife and mom to put yourself first.
So often moms have the excuse that they had other things to do because of their kids.  Our KIDS (and even our spouses) are the reason we need to take care of ourselves and put us first, not our excuse. 

Ice Cream!!!

 Ok, I'm super excited to share this recipe!  But first, a little about me.
I LOVE to eat.  Seriously, love it.  That's partly mostly why I started exercising to begin with. I once had a race entry I had to fill out that had the sentence "I run for..."  Mine was cookies. I run for cookies, I ran so I could eat more cookies than I was already eating. 
Things have changed since then.  I'm now gluten free, so my cookies have changed a bit (but yes, I did already figure out how to make gluten free chocolate chip cookies, it was pretty high on my priority list).  I've also made some pretty big changes with my diet; I try to follow the 90/10 rule for eating clean; and try to push it up higher to 95% most of the time.
Anyway, Saturday night I really, REALLY, wanted some frozen yogurt. So much so, that since it didn't close until midnight, I was trying to think of a way I could justify going at 11:00 at night.  I didn't end up caving in, mostly because my hubby already ate his dessert, so I'd be eating alone while he watched (awkward!)...  I'm also lactose intolerant and knew I'd regret it not too long after I ate it.
So today I found a recipe that worked for me!!!
It's from the blog called Whipped Baking, and the ingredient list is VERY short.  Lucky for me, I had everything already on hand!  (ok, I modified the recipe I found, because I'm a chocolate girl too, so add in some cocoa powder!)

Mix everything in the blender.  I ended up mixing in 6 frozen bananas, 2/3 cup of coconut milk, 1 tbsp peanut butter, and 2 tbsp cocoa powder. Oh, I did throw in some chocolate chips just for fun, because like I said, I like chocolate.

Mix it all together, and either eat right away, or stick it in the freezer...
Then... Enjoy!

And yup, I totally had some after my workout!  Here is the link to the original recipe, let me know if you make it and what you think!

By the way, if you are doing the 21 Day Fix, this would totally work for one of your treats!!!

Clean Eating Granola

This is my absolute FAVORITE granola recipe.  I found the original recipe off of the blog 100 Days of Real Food, but I changed it up a bit to suit our family's taste. 

Clean Eating Granola

Ingredients

• 3½ cups rolled oats (you can mix in steel cut oats as well as rolled oats)
• 1 cup raw sliced almonds
• 1 cup raw cashew pieces
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp Pumpkin pie seasoning
• 6 tablespoons coconut oil
• ½ cup honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Also need – parchment paper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Cover a rectangular baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix the dry oats, almonds, cashews, walnuts, seeds and spices together in a large mixing bowl.
3. Heat the butter and honey together in a small saucepan over low heat. Once the butter melts stir in the vanilla and salt.
4. Pour the hot liquids over the dry ingredients and stir together with a rubber spatula until evenly coated.
5. Spread mixture onto prepared pan in one even layer. Bake for 75 minutes.
6. The granola will become crisp as it cools at which point you can break into pieces (if making bars) or break it up into small chunks by pounding it in a zip lock bag (if making cereal). Store in air tight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Transformation

I decided the first transformation I am going to share is my own.  I did 2 rounds of T25 and loved it.  I ONLY did 25 minutes a day, and didn't even follow the eating plan, I just started eating clean (cutting out processed foods).  I think the BIGGEST thing that helped me was participating in my coaches online Challenge groups.  I LOVED being held accountable and having to check in with my eating and working out.  It was exactly what I needed.

Shakeology

 

 This is me, almost every morning.  I finish my workout, and get my kids off to school, then hop on the computer to do some work, with my Shakeology in hand for breakfast.

Shakeology is a nutrient dense meal replacement shake. It is so incredibly healthy, there's no other single food item out there that can supply you with all the nutrients, vitamins, proteins, and minerals in the amounts you need the way Shakeology can.

You can see how it compares with other Meal replacement shakes.  I was a skeptic at first, because how can a shake be better for you than real food.  But I gave it a month, and within that month, I became a believer. I have not had flares with my autoimmune disease since using Shakeology, and that's kind of a big deal. 

 

Beachbody Coaching

I hate parties.

And by parties, I mean, things you get invited to, where you are expected to spend money.  Mary Kay (although I LOVE some of the product, I won't go to a party to get it), Pampered Chef, Scentsy, Jewelry, nail stuff, photobooks, etc...  The list goes on and on for parties for Network Marketing companies.  I swore years ago I would NEVER get involved with a network marketing company. Now, the company model isn't terrible, but if I want something, I don't want to have to go to a party to get it, if I have to wait, I'd rather go to the store.

When I was first introduced to Beachbody I had NO clue what it even was.  Then my coach mentioned P90X...  Yeah, I knew what P90X was, I had even attempted it a few times(SO not for me!)  But running wasn't working with my weight loss anymore like it always had in the past, and just because I was now in my 30's didn't mean I was going to let myself go and just start gaining weight. I was determined to do SOMETHING about it.  When I first started talking with the person who ended up becoming my coach, I was interested in the program, and I liked the Challenge groups she did. I needed something that was going to keep me going, and I thought that her Challenge group was a good fit; but then she mentioned Shakeology.  Yeah, I don't do Shakes, either. And I told her that.  But then she send me a link about Shakeology.  And it was completely different then what I thought it was. It wasn't just a low calorie shake, it was a Meal Replacement designed to help control cravings, assist in weight loss, increase your energy and feel healthier, and improve your digestion and regularity.  I figured I would try it out for a month, and then decide if I it was something I wanted to continue on with.

So I ordered in August of 2013. I got the Tropical Strawberry Vegan, and I thought it was disgusting. It had a VERY chalky taste that I couldn't keep drinking it, I sent it back in to the company after 5 days, because they have an amazing 30 day - bottom of the bag guarantee. So since I didn't love it, I sent it back in for the regular Chocolate. It came and I still hated it.  But I just mixed it with water at first. So I tried it again, this time with almond milk.  It was better, but I hated how thick it made it with the almond milk, so I tried Coconut milk and BINGO, LOVED it. And I've never turned back from it.

I ended up losing 15 lbs with T25 and Shakeology BUT, I also lost inches, over 25 inches, and I went down 2 pant sizes.

So I decided to pay it forward and become a coach as well, because I've learned SO much in my journey that I want to share what I've learned and what worked for me.  So yes, I did end up joining a network marketing company, but I don't do parties. ;)